The further to the left or the right you move, the more your lens on life distorts.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Summer, 2007

It’s summer, 2007. The Lebanese government has decided that terrorists who pose a threat to Lebanon's national security must be stopped. To accomplish this they have waged an eight-week assault on the “Palestinian Refugee Camp” in Nahr al Bared Lebanon. At least 210 people have been killed.

Witnesses said the army was bombarding the camp, often at a rate of 7 to 10 artillery shells per minute. Black smoke billowed from the camp's battered buildings, most of which have been reduced to rubble. Lebanese navy gunboats also took part in the shelling.

Bulldozers cleared the rubble and soldiers erected barricades at the camp's edges, creating fortified army positions. Security sources said a Lebanese civilian was killed by a stray bullet a few kilometers away from the camp.

Although reports of this action have appeared in the MSM, there has been no breathless outrage and condemnation of the Lebanese army. There are few pictures of civilians killed as part of collateral damage, few (staged) images of wailing Palestinians in front of building reduced to rubble, almost no op-ed pieces decrying “disproportionality” when tanks and heavy artillery are used against “militants” with rifles and grenade launchers.

Now, think Hizballah and the summer of 2006. Why is it that the Lebanese get a pass and the Israelis were the target of most of the MSM and many human rights organizations? Interesting, huh?

Amnesty International, whose main headline today is: “Israel/Hizballah war casualties await justice” makes no mention of the 2007 Lebanese action on their Web site home page. The NYT has no editorials, CNN mentions the action in passing, but without any real negative spin against the Lebanese.

But Lebanon is protecting their own country, you might protest. Israel wasn’t? But there are real grievances here. Were 2,000 rockets crossing an international border not a real grievance?

Could it be blatant media bias against the Israelis? Could it be that human rights groups look at the world through a lens that is grossly distorted? Nah, those things would be despicable, unprofessional, and wrong.

About Me

Over the years, I’ve been an engineer, a manager, a professor, a consultant, an author and an entrapreneur. Today, I work with my sons at Evannex, an automotive aftermarket products manufacturer and e-commece company that specializes in electric vehicles. I've written a number of best-selling college textbooks and have tried the occasional novel.
I’ve lived long enough to see the irrationality in extreme positions taken by both ends of the political spectrum and worry that decisions driven by these positions may get us all into very real trouble. I harbor no illusions about influencing decision-making, only making a comment or two that might provoke you to think beyond the prevailing narrative.
On a personal level, I’ve been married for 48 years (to the same person!) and have two terrific sons who live and work in South Florida and are partners in a business we've created.
I'm originally from Connecticut, but have lived in SoFla for almost 20 years.